Lock.



A. S. HILL.

LOOK.

APPLICATION FILED MAIL. 25, 1913.

Patented Mar. 10, 1914h il E.. E

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ALEXANDER S. HILL, OJE MEDINA, NEW YORK.

LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 10, 1914.

Application filed March 25, 1913. Serial No. l756,778.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, ALEXANDER S. HILL, a citizen ot the United States, residing at Medina, in the county of Orleans and State oi' New York, have invented cert-ain new and useful Improvements in Locks; and l do declare the following to be a t'ull, clear, and exact description ot' the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

rlhis invention relates to locks and latches, and more especially to knob spindle ifasteners; and the object of the same is to produce a lock by means of which the knob on the outer side of the door may be fastened by a person within the room in such manner that it cannot be turned.

Further objects will appearl in the following specification and claims fully dis closing my invention, and the latter is shown in the accompanying drawings wherein-u Figure 1 is an elevation of this device as it appears from the outside of the door, with the outer knob removed and its spindle in section. Fig. 2 is an elevation ot' this device from the inside of the door, with parts broken away. Figs. 3, 4;, and 5 are vertical sections on the lines SW3, 1f-it and 5-5 respectively of Fig. 1. Fig. G is an enlarged detail on the line GHG ot' Fig. Figs. 7, S and 9 are sectional views on the lines 7-9 of Fig. 3 showing different positions as will be described hereinafter'. Fig. 10 is a perspective detail oi the outer knob spindle and the cam thereon.

In the drawings is shown a casing C whose details need not be described, further than to say that it contains proper bearings Jfor the knob spindle which is made in two sections. The inner section 1 carrying the inner knob 2 is rigidly attached at its inner end within the easing to a disk f-E which contains a slot 4: (see Fig. (i), and within said slot fits loosely a tongue 5 at the inner end of the outer knob-spindle-section 6 which carries the outer knob 7. Said disk 3 is attached to the bolt in any suitable manner, but in Fig. 2 l have shown it as controlling three bolts 10, 11, 12, the first one by a slot 13 and a pin 141 in the disk, and the other two bolts 11 and 12 by link mechanism not necessary to describe in detail. In fact, these two or any two ott the bolts might be omitted and the connection between the disk and the remaining bolt modified to a considerable extent-so long as `the turning oi the inner knob section l by the inner knob 2 would project the bolt (or bolts) into ei'igagement with a proper keeper 15 as indicated in Fig. 2. It is not contemplated in the present case that the tip ot the bolt shall be beveled and that its body shall be spring actuated; on the contrary it is contemplated that it shall be both projected and retracted manually, and the purpose ot the present invention is to afford means for locking this bolt in its projected or locked position so that it may not be retracted by a person on the outside of the door without the use oi' a proper key, andin t'actwit is possible for a person on the inside ol the door to so set the locking mechanism that a person on the outside of the door who did have a proper key could not unlock it.

Fast on the outer spindle section 6 is a spiral cam` 1G (see Fig. 10) having a flat tace 17. Pivoted within the lock casing at '1S is a tumbler 19 having a shoulder 2O adapted to engage the l'lat face 17 when the parts stand as seen in Figs. S and 9, and the outer end of this tumbler is forked as at 21. 'Between the lork arms rotates the bit 22 of a dead latch whose shank is journaled in the casing and whose handle 2li is fast on the shank in a position opposite to that of the bit 22. and the shank projects through the inner ilaee plate ol. the casing so that the handle stands on the inside of the door as seen in Fig. 5. The length of the bit is equal. to the space between the fork-arms, and. when this bit stands upright as seen in Fig. 7 the fork is held raised and the tumbier in such position that its shoulder 2O disengages the eain tace 17. When the shank 29 ol. the dead latch is set so that the handle 2i projects horizontally in one direction and the bit 23 in the other, as seen in Fig. 8, said bit has no eiliect whatever upon the fork arms and the tumbler may be raised from the position here shown or may be permitted to remain in this position. It is contemplated that the shank 23 shall turn with some :Friction in its bearing within the casing` so that when the handle 2L is set to this position it will remain so. Vhen the handle is turned uppermost and the bit down as seen in Fig. 9, the fork 21 and hence the tumbler 19 is held in the position there shown and its shoulder 20 is retained in engagement with the cam 'face 17. It will be understood that this cam must rotate to the left in these views in order to retract the bolts from their locked position as seen in Fig. 2. lVith this construction of parts, when the handle 2a is turned downward or allowed to fall downward, the tumbler 19 is raised and the lock can be actuated by turning either knob in the ordinary manner. In this oase the tumbler is entirely out of use, and it will be observed that the thumb latch exposes the key hole next to be described. Such dead latch cannot be set nor cannot be moved from the outside of the door, and therefore when it is brought into use it must be by a person inside the door and therefore within the room which is to be closed by said door. If he desires to lock the device so that someone outside having a key may use the key to unlock it, he sets the dead latch as seen in Fig. 8; otherwise he sets it as seen in Fig. 9.

In Fig. I is shown a key 30 having a beveled tip 31 and notches 32 in its edge. These latter constitute wards engaging or co-acting with projections constituting other wards within a key barrel 33 which is rotatably mounted within the casing in any suitable manner. lVithout going more into detail in the illustration and description, the construction is such 'that only a key whose wards lit those in the key barrel may be inserted in the latter and turned, but in connection with the present lock this key must have a. beveled tip 31. The key barrel is so disposed with reference to the fork 21, that the lower arm of the same covers the inner end of the barrel when the tumbler 19 is depressed as seen in Figs. 3 and 9. Yet a slight portion of the slot at the bottom of the barrel is exposed at this time, so that the pointed end of the beveled tip 31 of said key may pass beneath the lower fork-arm, and when the key is turned it will raise the fork and therefore elevate the tumbler. If now the key shown in Fig. le `be inserted from the outside of a lock when the parts stand as seen in Fig. 8, it is quite obvious that whn turned the lbeveled tip 31 will raise the fork because the bit 22 of the dead latch permits; but if the key be employed when the parts stand as seen in Fig. 9, the beveled tip 31 cannot raise the fork because the bit 22 of the dead latch here projects downward in the fork and therefore the tumbler is locked.

From this description it will be seen that when a person inside the room leaves it and desires to lock the door behind himself, he will set the parts to the position shown in Fig. 8, then pass out and turn the outer -knob 7 to project the bolts into their keepers 15, at which time the cam face 17 will pass under the shoulder 20 and the tumbler will vdrop back to the position shown vin Fig. 8- havi-ngbeen raised therefrom as the knob spindle turns to the right in the act of projecting the bolt. When he returns, he has but to insert his key in the outer end of the barrel 23, when its beveled tip will raise the tumbler and free the knob spindle, so that he can rotate the latter by turning` the outer knob. If by chance he should set the parts as shown in Fig. 9 and attempt to leave the room and lock the door in the manner just described, he will nd when he attempts to turn the knob to the right in order to project the bolt that he cannot do so, because the spiral cam will not now turn under the lower fork arm since the fork is locked in its lowest position. If he should -set the parts as shown in Fig. 7 he may leave the room and lock the door, but when he has turned the cam to the proper position the tumbler will not drop to engage it because y it is supported by the bit 22. The action on the inside of the room is, however, slightly different. Here the operator needs no key because he can turn the dead latch by hand. The provision of the slot e and the tongue 5 fitting therein with some lost motion obviates the necessity of even turning the dead latch, in addition to its other function of permitting the two parts of the lock-casing to be applied to opposite sides of the door without removing the knobs from their spindles. While it is the outer knob 7 and its spindle 6 which turn the cam and whose rotation in a reverse direction is positively checked by the setting of the tumbler 19, it is the inner knob 2 and its spindle 1 which turn the disk 3 and project and retract the bolt or bolts. If the socket or slot 4; in this disk rather loosely engages the tongue 5 at the inner end of the outer spindle 6, it will be obvious that the inner knob 2 may be turned to a slight degree irrespective of the fact that the outer knob-spindle may be at this locked; and by properly proportioning the parts it is possible for this slight movement in the proper direction to retract the bolt or bolts so that they will disengage their keepers. This is a provision I prefer to employ in case a. busy man should forget to manipulate the handle 24 of the dead latch, or should by preference keep it set at the position shown in Fig. 8.

Vhile I prefer to set the handle 24C directly opposite to the bit 22 so that the weight of the former may overcome that of the latter with the result that the parts would assume the position shown in Fig. 7 if the shank 23 became loose in its bearings or there were vibration or jar within the building, I do not wish to be limited in this respect as it is quite possible to set the handle at other relative positions with respect to said bit.

As above suggested, the connection 'be- .tween the inner knob spindle Aand the boltis shown in Fig. 2 for purposes of illustration only, and the details therein as well as the details of the casing are unimportant in the present connection.

What is claimed as new is:

1. The combination with a knob spindle having a cam thereon; of a tumbler pivoted at one end and forked at the other and having a shoulder adapted to engage said cam, and a dead latch having a shank rotatably mounted, a bit at its inner end disposed between the arms of said fork and projecting in one direction from said shank, and a handle at its outer end projecting from the shank in the opposite direction.

2. In a lock, the combination with a rotary spindle, a bolt projected by the turning thereof in one direction, and a spiral cam fast on the spindle and having a flat face; of a tumbler pivoted at one end and having a shoulder between its ends adapted to engage said face when the bolt is projected, the other end of said tumbler being forked, a dead latch movably mounted between the fork-arms and whose bit is capable of being set in position to hold the tumbler down or up, or permit it to drop by gravity when the cam face passes its shoulder, and a handle on the dead latch projecting in a direction opposite that in which said bit projects.

3. The combination with a rotary spindle having a cam, a bolt connected with said spindle, and a tumbler` pivoted at one end and having a shoulder adapted to drop by gravity into engagement with said cam when the bolt is projected, the other end of said tumblerl being forked; of a rotatable key barrel having its key-slot partly exposed beneath the forked end of said tumbler when the latter has its shoulder engaging said cam, and means within the fork for locking said tumbler up or down or freeing it entirely.

4. The combination with a rotary spindle having a cam, a bolt connected with said spindle, and a tumbler pivoted at one end and having a shoulder adapted to drop by gravity into engagement with said cam when the bolt is projected, the other end of said tumbler being forked; of a rotatable key barrel having its key-slot partly exposed beneath the forked end of said tumbler when the latter has its shoulder engaging said cam, and a dead latch including a rotatable shank, a bit fast thereon and located between the fork-arms, and means for turning said shank.

The combination with a rotary spindle having a cam, a bolt connected with said spindle, and a tumbler pivoted at one end and having a shoulder' adapted to drop by gravity into engagement with said cam when the bolt is projected, the other end of said tumbler being forked; of a rotatable key-barrel having its key-slot partly exposed beneath the forked end of said tumhier when the latter has its shoulder engaging said cam, and a dead latch including a rotatable shank passing between the forkarms, a bit fast thereon and of a length equal to the space between such arms, and a handle fast ou the outer end of the shank and projecting in a direction therefrom opposite to that in which the bit projects.

(3. In a lock, the combination with a casing, a knob spindle rotatably mounted therethrough and having a cam within the casing, and connections between the bolt and spindle; of a key-barrel rotatably mounted within said casing alongside the spindle and having through it a slot for a fiat key with a beveled tip, and a tumbler pivoted within said casing and adapted to fall into position to engage said cam and at that time to lie across the upper portion of the slot in said key-barrel.

7. In a lock of the character described, the combination with an outer knob, its spindle, a cam on said spindle thereon and a tongue at its inner end, dead latch mechanism adapted to be thrown `into engagement with said cam, and a handle at the inner side of the door connected with said dead latch; of an inner knob, its spindle having a disk provided with a slot engaging said tongue with some lost mot-ion for the purpose set forth, and the bolt connected with said disk.

S. In a lock of the class described, the combination with the casing, the outer and inner knobs, a two-part spindle connecting them with some lost motion between the parts, a cam on the outer spindle-part, dead latch mechanism adapted to engage this cam, and a handle for such mechanism at the inner side of the door; of the bolt, connections between it and the inner spindle-part, and a key-barrel rotatably mounted in said casing in position to permit the use of a key from the exterior' to trip said dead latch mechanism.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALEXANDER S. HILL.

Witnesses J. ANDREW Gmnsnnunn, Jr.` II. K. MacGnAnY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C. 

